The Children’s society x The golden perspective blog

Hello guys, welcome back to my blog. How are you guys doing? I’m back at university now so I’m balancing university, blogging and working part-time. Majority of the time, I am exhausted. But I love my life, in fact this month I have vowed to keep being positive all month. I’ve also decided to make sure I am looking after my mind, body and soul. It is so easy, to forget about yourself in this busy and fast paced world.

My next blog post, will be about how I relax and unwind after a busy week! In this blog post, I have teamed up with The Children’s Society. The Children’s Society have worked with over 13,000 vulnerable children and young people in the last year. They are determined to give every child in this country the greatest possible chance in life. This is extremely close to my heart. When I was growing up, I had the right people around me, however others aren’t always so lucky.

The Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Report 2017 uncovered alarming new findings, from research with thousands of young people, about how many different pressures are affecting teenagers’ happiness. Problems such as fear of crime, money troubles and emotional support at home are other top concerns among teens. These are serious problems.

Support your friends and family

There are lots of good things about being a teenager, I had very happy teenage years. Luckily, I had good friends and a strong family around me. I knew I could tell my friends anything. I trusted them. Sadly some do not have help at home, when they’re upset. If you feel you can’t speak to your family, try and confide in a friend. Maybe you notice, your friend or family member is being quiet or anti social. Try and speak to them and find out what is going on. You never know what someone is facing. Invite them round and cook them a meal! 200,000 children say they don’t get enough emotional support at home.

Fear of crime

Fear of crime is the most common problem, leaving 2.2m teenagers more likely to be unhappy. In today’s news, a 17 year old boy has been knifed to death in a park. This makes him London’s 22nd teenage murder victim this year. A knife crime now takes place somewhere in England and Wales every 14 minutes on average, a BBC report found earlier this week. Many youth clubs and programmes for young people are being closed down. This results in young people, being bored and restless.

Rather than doing something productive, they hang around on the streets in huge groups. How many youth clubs, can you count in your local area? We need more youth clubs! Every person, should feel they can flourish and achieve anything, regardless of their background or circumstance.

Safety

Did you know, 1 in 3 teenage girls worry about being followed by a stranger? Always try and go home in groups. When I go out, I often stay over at a friend’s house, so we can travel home together. If you are worried about getting public transport alone, spilt an Uber with a friend! The government is cutting funding for local services that help children. When you are growing up and trying to find yourself, it is easy to feel pressured or insecure. You should know that there is only one of you and every person has something special to offer the world.